Community Property: Definition and How It Works in California

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law. Updated September 2026.

Community property is property either spouse acquires during marriage in California, owned equally by both spouses regardless of whose name is on the title.

How it works in California

California is a community property state, and the general rule under Fam. Code, §§ 760, 770 is that earnings and property acquired during marriage belong to both spouses equally, while property owned before marriage, or received by gift or inheritance during marriage, stays that spouse’s separate property. Whose name is on the title doesn’t control the answer; how and when the asset was acquired does.

At the first spouse’s death, Prob. Code, § 100 confirms that the surviving spouse already owns one-half of the community property outright. Only the deceased spouse’s one-half is subject to that spouse’s will or trust; the surviving spouse’s half was never the decedent’s to give away.

Why it matters

This distinction decides how much of an estate a person’s will or trust actually controls. For example, if a couple’s community property includes a house and investment accounts, the surviving spouse’s half of each was already theirs before the first spouse’s estate plan even applies, and only the other half moves through probate or trust administration.

Common mistakes

Couples sometimes assume that whoever’s name is on an account or a deed owns it, when community property status turns on when and how the asset was acquired, not the title. People also mix separate and community funds during marriage without keeping records, which can make it genuinely hard, years later, to prove which portion of an asset is which.

Related terms

• Elective Share: doesn’t exist in California, largely because community property already guarantees the surviving spouse half.
• Omitted Spouse: protects a spouse left out of a will or trust made before the marriage.
• QTIP Trust: a common tool for controlling how a deceased spouse’s half of the community property is used after death.
• Separate Property: the counterpart category, owned by one spouse alone.
• Spousal Property Petition: the streamlined court process for confirming a surviving spouse’s community property interest.
• Step-Up in Basis: a federal tax rule that treats community property differently than separate property when a spouse dies.
• Community Property with Right of Survivorship: spousal title that passes the whole property to the survivor while keeping community property treatment.
• Joint Tenancy: co-ownership that passes a deceased owner’s share to the surviving owners automatically.
• Survivor's Trust: the share of a married couple’s trust that belongs to the surviving spouse.

Part of the California estate planning glossary. For the full treatment, see Community Property vs. Separate Property in Trust Administration.